Doddie first registered with Birdline on the official website on 15/7/2008 but was active for many years before this. She advised at the time of registering that she had her own wild caught African Grey and a home bred Orange winged Amazon.

Doddie soon became a Safehouse for Birdline. Many many people visited the house to either drop birds off or to collect birds, apologies to her family for all the telephone calls, the late lunches and late evening meals! The family were always welcoming and hospitable to whom ever visited.

Later she became an ACO for Surrey, being allocated her own number register due to the amount of birds she was dealing with. Any bird numbers that began with DK you knew that Doddie dealt with. Just in the time she had her own numbers she had dealt with 284 birds! She dealt with many many more after the numbering system changed.

Doddie not only helped with Surrey but also covered a lot of the London area, which included her riding her motorbike to do homechecks or getting the tube, we are so glad she didn’t collect birds this way!

Doddie was a very caring individual and did not mind doing this for the birds. Alongside her family and friends, the birds were her life.

Doddie subsequently took on the role of Birdline Manager, and in her own words, she said that she had gained much more experience to carry out that role exceeding every expectation.

She was offered the role of Director on several occasions to which she declined. Doddie would have made a great Director and would have dedicated herself fully to the role but said she enjoyed her ‘hands on role’ too much.

She went on to foster her own Birdline rescue birds, Frisco the Medium Sulphur Crested Cockatoo and Jazz & Milo the Alexandrines. Doddie attended many Birdline shows with these birds helping to raise much needed funds and awareness. We all fondly remember the big bug bear with Doddie at the shows, and she repeatedly said it “People do too much standing around and talking, and not getting out to the public”!

She was forthright and honest and not afraid to challenge behaviours etc. that she considered was not in the best interest of the bird. For a petite individual, she was a formidable force and came across as quite scary to some, but that truly belied the soft and caring side which she exuded. Many new and old Birdline volunteers experienced this in abundance and I know she had earnt the loyalty and respect of many within the charity.

Whilst Doddie was undertaking the Manager role, she also helped with the Birdline Helpline, as well as arranging shows. She also helped with all documentation and I think everyone within the charity will forever remember her show ‘bag’ alongside all her Birdline paperwork! Her organisation was the envy of us all. As I look back, I cannot recall a role within Birdline that she didn’t do!

Doddies dedication continued right to the end and she only handed over the enquires on the 13/9/17 when we received an email which some of it read….

I’m really not well enough to keep getting out of bed to sort it out. I really regret this, as I’ve enjoyed doing it, but I have to be practical. My lung cancer is progressing at a fair rate, and still being useful has been a great help, but I just can’t manage it any more.

This shows the true dedication and commitment that Doddie had for Birdline and the birds, how many of us can truly say we would do the same? Doddie would want you to carry on and help the birds and Birdline as she did for many years. Please don’t let her down.

We will all miss Doddie dearly, she was a rock, a hero, a legend, a mind of useful information, a truly dedicated lady and she became a very treasured friend to many of us. We will miss her with all our hearts.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Doddie for all her help and commitment she gave to Birdline and the birds. A big thank you comes from the many birds she saved. We would like to send our deepest sympathy to her family and friends. We cannot begin to imagine the sense of loss you are experiencing alongside the fact that Birdline has lost a truly dedicated, driven, loving lady. RIP sweet angel.

Here are some words from some of the people who have met Doddie through Birdline.

The first few lines are from some of her emails.

I hate to nit-pick but Picky, picky, that is me, I think I’m abrasive and tactless but was as strong as you needed me to be. Hey, you that’s not on, my legacy will be a charity where things are properly done. I was always there to help you, I always had your back, you could rely on me for detail and I would pull you up when slack. Who will take her reigns now? Who will guide our way? Who will have her strength of will? As we look back and miss her every day.

You were a kind and generous lady who did so much to help our charity and the many birds you saved along the way.

How can anything be put into words to say how wonderful and committed you were? You became a true friend.

Thank you for all your hospitality whenever I visited. I will miss our meetings when we use to sit there having lunch with you and your family. We would catch up with things, sometimes laughing and sometimes pulling our hair out.

Remember they are not” JUST” a bird like you were not “JUST” a friend.

You were one of the most dedicated, kind and loving lady I have ever met.

I will miss you calling me, even if sometimes, it was to have a go about something.

Rest in Peace sweet lady, a big thank you from all the birds you have rescued. I will miss you now and always. I will never forget you.

When I first met Doddie she was a little scary, but once I got to know her, I realised she was just a big softy who wanted to help anyone or anything. I hope she has pulled on her bobby socks and leather jacket, got on her motorbike and is causing mayhem.

Doddie I have always seen you not only as a friend but as a lady of amazing facts and information. There will be so many people and birds who will miss you, most of all me. Thank you for all you have done.

I cannot begin to put into words my gratitude for Doddie’s, patience and endless hours teaching me nearly everything I now know about parrots. She is someone that anyone involved in rescue should aspire to be like. I don’t often, especially currently, find colleagues that have earned my respect but in the case of Doddie, not only had she done so, she had forever earned my loyalty. She is going to